High speed cigarette packaging machine



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TTORNEY Patented Mar. 21, 1944 HIGH SPEEDCIGARETTE PACKAGING MACHINE Charles Arelt, Richmond Hill, N. Y., assignor to American Machine a; Foundry Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application February Z0, 1940, Serial No. 319,864

9 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in packaging, more particularly to cigarette packaging machines.

An object of the invention is to provide improved transferring of the label sheet into the path of a traveling mandrel about which the label is subsequently folded. To this end the label is delivered from a magazine or the like upon guides which extend continuously to either side of the path of the mandrels, and the labels are advanced along said guides to a position below an approaching mandrel. Thus the labels may be advanced into the desired position with minimum disturbance.

Another object is to provide improved mechanisin forming subject matter of my divisional application Serial No. 491,122, filed June 1'1, 1943, which will tuck the open end of the packages ejected from the mandrels without employing the contents thereof as a support and thereby injuring the package, and also to provide improved devices constituting subject matter of my divisional application Serial No. 491,123, filed June 17, 1943, which effectively seal the bottom folds prior to ejection.

Still another object is to provide a package wherein both ends thereof are closed, and to this end a label of sufficient length may be employed to permit folding over both package ends. In connection with this type of package, it is an object of the invention to provide a construction, which also forms subject matter of my divisional application Serial No. 491,122, led June 17, 1943, for applying paste to the inner face of the outer flap, and supporting said flap during the application of paste, following the ejection of the package from the mandrel and the tucking of the open package end. Thus pouch packages may be formed and ejected from the mandrels, or the label sheet may project suilciently beyond the inner end of the package in the mandrel to permit said end to be closed following ejection. Alternatively the paster for applying adhesive to the inner face of the outer ap on said inner package end may be used or dispensed with depending upon which type of package is desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved mechanism for draping and folding the foil wrapper and label sheet about the girth of the mandrel, whereby loose wrapping and slippage of the foil or labels is prevented.

With these and other objects not specifically mentioned in view the invention consists in cer- -tain constructions and combinations hereinafter fully described and then specifically set forth in the claims hereunto appended.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this speciilcation and in which like characters of reference indicate the same or like parts:

Fig. l is an end elevation of the improved label transfer mechanism, shown partly in' section;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig, 3 is an end elevation of the foil and label folding mechanisms showing in section the mandrels at the foil and label folding stations;

Figs. 4 to 7 are diagrammatic end elevation views illustrating the successive stages of the operation of the foil folding mechanisms; and

Fig. 8 is a plan view oi the foil folding mecha nism taken on line @-8 of Fig. 7.

Label transfer The label transfer consists of a forked pusher bracket 5, the hub of which is pivoted to ann 6 supported by and fulcrumed to a stud 1 held by a bearing bracket 8 mounted on a, pair of lugs 9 of the bed I0 of the machine. The forked end of pusher bracket 5 carries a pair of pusher fingers Il, which are adjustably mounted thereon, and the other end of said bracket is connected by a link I2 to a lever I3 fulcrumed on stud 1. To the hub of lever I3 is attached operating lever i4 which is connected by a rod l5 to a member I6 operated by a cam (not shown) of suitable design. Pusher arm 6 is also connected by a rod I1, to an operating lever i8 mounted on an oscillating shaft i9 which is actuated by a cam lever 20 operated by a cam (not shown) of suitable design. A tension spring 2|, connecting arm 6 and lever i3, is provided to prevent any possible play of bracket 5 during operation. 'lhe labels L are delivered from a label stack or magazine such as disclosed in Patent #1,888,786, to W. B- Bronander, on to an endless, continuously driven pair of conveyor chains 22 which are equipped with a number of pusher lugs 23 equally spaced in such a way that.

each pair of lugs push one label at a time. While being advanced by these conveyor chains a lengthwise stripe of adhesive and daubs of adhesive at one end edge of the label are applied to seal the longitudinal seam and one outer ilap during the formation of the package on the mandrel, by a paster such as shown. in said Bronander patent. The labels are guided by a bottom guide plate 24 and a pair of side guide rails 25. To each of the latter is furthermore adjustably fastened a top guide rail 2B. While the labels L are being advanced they are taken away from the conveyor chain one by one by the reciprocating pusher fingers which push the label under a mandrel M where each label is taken away and folded around-said mandrel as hereinafter described. On its return stroke, fingers li dip sumciently to clear the next oncoming label on chains 22, then go upward again and by a fast straight forward motion take said1abel away from the pusher lugs 23 of said chain and forward it below the next mandrel. The dipping backward motion as well as the straight forward motion of fingers indicated by the lines of arrows in Fig. 2, is achieved throughthe swinging of the pusher l bracket up and down, which is controlled through link l2 by lever i3 actuated by lever I4, while the arm B swings to and fro. The dotted lines in Fig. 2 indicate the diiferent positions of fingers I and bracket 5 during their backward movement.

'I'he advantage of this improved transfer system lies in the fact that a considerably faster and better transfer of labels is obtained in comparison with the old method of employing a separate carrier which often crushed the labels during their forward motion and rubbed the same during its backward stroke. With this construction the bottom as well as the side guide rails extend from the label magazine to the position under the mandrel M, where the label is taken away, in a straight horizontal line and any dropping, edging or shifting of the label is eliminated. The plate 24 may be notched or otherwise constructed to provide extensions projecting to either side of the path of the mandrel to support the label sheet in said path.

As mentioned heretofore, the conveyor chains 22 are driven continuously from the main drive of the machine (not shown) and are supported by means of a pair of sprockets 21 keyed to a shaft 28 supported by a suitable bearing bracket (not shown) attached to a bottom guide supporting bar 29 (Fig. 1) fastened to a suitable bracket (not shown), mounted on the main frame of the machine.

Pusher arm 6 is also equipped with an adjustable stop screw 30 (Fig. 2) checking the forward motion of arm 6 by contacting a stop lug all attached to frame I0. On each fork of the bottom guide plate 24 is provided a suitable stop 32, which is adjustably bolted thereon, to stop the labels in the desired position underneath the mandrel M with their leading edge disposed in the desired relation aligned with or projecting beyond the inner end of the group of cigarettes within the mandrel and their trailing edge overhanging the other end of the mandrel.

Foil and label folding mechanisms The foil and label folding mechanisms are operated by a cam (Fig. 3) mounted on a shaft i0| driven from the main drive of the machine (not shown). Cam |00 is equipped with a cam track |02 which engages a cam roller |03, mounted on a lever |04 fulcrumed on a shaft |05 supported by bearings of a bracket |06. To shaft |05 is also fastened an arm |01 the forked portion |08 of which engages with a slidble block |09 of a stud ||0 which is adjustably clamped in a slot III of an arm H2 mounted on a shaft H3 protruding from and supported by bearings of bracket |06. To shaft ||3 is furthermore fastened a lever ||4 which is connected by a rod H5 with a levery l I6 mounted on a shaft Ill. While the latter serves to operate the mechanism for folding the foil about the mandrel at station A,

shaft Il: actuates the label folding mechanism at station B (Fig. 3). Both folding mechanisms and their actions at these stations are exactly alike. Upon shaft H1 is fastened'an arm |I8a to which is secured a folder bracket lisa carrying a folder plate |20a. On shaft H1 is also loosely mounted a lever |2Ia which carries a rubber cushion |22a. Lever |2|a is furthermore equipped with a lug I23a which, by a link |24a is connected with a lug |25a of a folder lever |26a also equipped with a rubber cushion |21a. Said folder lever |26a is pivoted to a shaftv |28a held by a suitable bearing bracket |29a. Lever |26a carries furthermore a folder bar |30a. To shaft |28a is also fastened a lug i3| engaging with a control stud |32 held by a lug |33 of bracket i29a.

The hub of lever I2 I a, which is loosely mounted on shaft Ill, is furthermore provided with a lug |34a having a projecting bar |35a which, when at inoperative position, is held in contact with an operating lug I36a mounted on shaft ill by a tension spring i31a connecting lug |34a and lug |36a. Thus folder arm ||8a continues its movement after rubber cushions |26a and |21a have contacted the side of the package. The mechanism and parts just described are those effecting the folding of the foil wrapper F about the girth of the mandrel at station A (Fig. 3). The mechanism and parts effecting the folding of the label L about the girth of the mandrel at station B are of the same nature and construction and perform similar functions. Therefore all parts thereof having the subscript b correspond to those having subscript a at station A.

As mentioned heretofore, the folding of the label sheet at station B is done in the same manner as the folding of the foil wrapper at station A. Therefore only one folding procedure, that of the foil wrapper need be illustrated, the successive steps of which are indicated in Figs. 4 to 7 inclusive. i

The foil is fed in front of the mandrel at the station preceding station A and a predetermined length is out o by a foil feeding mechanism such as disclosed in Patent #1,926,192, referred to above, which also discloses an intermittently rotating turret of well known construction (not shown) to which a number of said mandrels M are attached in equally spaced relation. In front of each mandrel is located an arm |38, which is pivoted on the turret and suitably actuated, as disclosed in said Patent #1,926,192. Each arm |38 moves towards its mandrel about the moment a foil wrapper is cut from the foil web feed between it and the mandrel. Thus a clamping plate |39, which has a stem |40 mounted in arm |38 and is urged inwardly by a compression spring |4| on said stem, is moved into clamping engagement with and holds the severed foil Wrapper F against the mandrel M (Fig. 4). Upon the further advance of arm |38 towards said mandrel a channel-shaped folding member |42 attached to said arm drapes the overhanging ends of said foil wrapper F against the sides of said mandrel (Fig. 5), so that the foil will assume a U-shape around the mandrel when arriving at the folding station A. At said station the mandrel stops between the folder levers l2 la and |26a which move towards the mandrel in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figs, 5 and 6 until the corresponding rubber cushions |22a and |2`|a respectively of said folder levers contact the sides of the mandrel and press the foil firmly against said sides, thus preventing any slippage or bowing of the foil during the folding of the outstanding naps Iinto overlapping relation on the mandrel.

Since arm |26a is equipped with a folder bar |30a said bar will lay the shorter projecting foil flap smoothly over the corner of said mandrel and on top ofthe same as illustrated'in Fig. 6. The longer projecting foil flap is smoothly folded over the mandrel and over the shorter foil flap by the folder plate |20a on bracket ||9a of arm ||8a which, due to the yielding connection of lug |34a and |36a, completes its folding action after the rubber cushions of levers |2|a and I 26a have contacted said mandrel.

At a station (notshown) located between stations A and B, a label sheet is fed by the label transfer described above into the space between the clamp plate |39 and theadjacent side of the mandrel, the arm |38 having been retracted with the plate |39 and folder member |42 following the clamping of the overlapped edges of the foil wrapper on the opposite face of the mandrel by a seam clampl (not shown) having the construction shown in said Patent #1,926,192. As the mandrel resumes its movement toward station B, the label sheet so positioned in its path is clamped against its forward fdbe by plate |39 and draped over its sides by folder |42. At station B the outstanding flaps of the label are folded into overlapping relation by the folders I3|lb and |2027 following the retraction of the seam presser which then presses the top nap, to the inner face of which a stripe of adhesive has been applied, against the inner flap to seal the longitudinal seam of the label. 'I'he upper and lower flaps of the projecting tubular portion of the foil were folded upon each other at a preceding station by folders (not shown) such as illustrated in Patent 1,885,910. At a station subsequent to that at which the label was folded about the mandrel, thetucking, and final folding of the tubular portion of the label upon the outstanding ears of the foil wrapper formed by the folders at said preceding station is accomplished, by mechanism such as illustrated in Patent 1,885,910. It will be understood that adhesive was previously applied to the portion of the label sheet corresponding to the inner face of the outer flap which is folded down on the inner flap to form a seam which is sealed by the operation of devices forming the subject matter of my divisional application Serial No. 491,123, led June 17, 1943. Finally, at the ejecting station the cigarettes are ejected from the mandrel into which they were previously inserted, thus stripping off the foil wrapper and label from the mandrel and delivering the partially completed package to the tucker and folder unit forming the subject matter of my divisional application Serial No. 491,122, filed June 1'7, 1943.

What is claimed is:

1 The combination with a traveling boxshaped support, of means for feeding a wrapper into the path of said support, a clamp for pressing the wrapper against one face of said support, a U-shaped folder for draping the clamped Wrapper over the sides of the support, mechanism for folding the edges of the clamped wrapper into overlapping relation on a face of said support opposite that to which the wrapper is clamped, and members for pressing the wrapper against the corners of the support adjacent the face on which the wrapper edges are overlapped, during the ,operation of said folding mechanism.

2. The combination with a traveling boxshaped support, of means for feeding a Wrapper into the path of said support, a clamp for pressing the wrapper against one face of said support,

a U-shaped folder for draping the clamped wrapper over the sides of the support, mechanism for folding the edges of the clamped wrapper into overlapping relation on a face of said support opposite that to which the wrapper is clamped, and members forpressing the wrapper against the corners of the support adjacent the face on which the wrapper edges are overlapped, during the operation of said folding mechanism, said mechanism including a swingable folder for folding one of the wrapper edges, and one of said members being yieldingly mounted on said swingable folder for movement therewith into position to press the wrapper against the lcorresponding adjacent corner of the support.

3. The combination with a traveling boxshaped support, of means for feeding a wrapper into the path of said support, a clamp for pressing the wrapper against one face of said support, a U-shaped folder for draping the clamped wrapper over the sides of the support, mechanisnr for folding the edges of the clamped wrapper into overlapping relation on a face of said support opposite that to which the wrapper is clamped, andmembers for pressing the wrapper against the corners of the support adjacent the face on which the wrapperedges are overlapped, during the operation of said folding mechanism, said mechanism including a swingable folder for folding one of the wrapper edges, and one of said members including a resilient cushion mounted on said folder for movement therewith into position t0 press the wrapper against the corresponding adjacent corner of the support.

4. The combination with a box-shaped support, of means for folding a wrapper about the girth of said support with the edges of the Wrapper disposed in overlapping relation on one face of said support, and members for pressing the wrapper against the corners of the support adjacent the face on which the wrapper edges are overlapped, during vthe folding of said edges into overlapped relationship, said means including a swingable folder for folding one of the wrapper edges, and one of said members being yieldingly mounted on said swingable folder for movement therewith into position to press the wrapper against the corresponding adjacent corner of the support.

5. The combination with a box-shaped support, of means for folding a wrapper about the girth of said support with the edges of the wrapper disposed in overlapping relation on one face of said support, and members for pressing the wrapper against the corners of the support adjacent the face on which the wrapper edges are,

overlapped, during the folding of said edges into overlapped relationship, said means including a swingable folder for folding one of the wrapper edges, and one of said members including a resilient cushion mounted on said folder for movement therewith against position to press the wrapper into the corresponding adjacent corner of the support.

6. The combination ywith a traveling boxshaped support, of means for feeding a wrapper into the path of said support with one end of the wrapper overhanging the end of the support, a clamp for pressing the Wrapper against one face of said support, a U-shaped folder for draping the clamped wrapper over the sides of the support, mechanism for folding the edges of the clamped wrapper into overlapping relation on a face of said support opposite that to which the wrapper is clamped, members for pressing the wrapper against the corners of the support adjacent the face on which the wrapper edges are overlapped prior to the operation of said folding mechanism, and means for tucking and folding the overhanging end of the wrapper after its edges have been overlapped on said support.

7. The combination with means for folding a wrapper about the girth ofv a package, with the edges of the wrapper disposed in overlapping relationship along one face of the package. said means including movable folders adapted to engage and fold the wrapper into overlapping relationship along one face of the package, and mechanism for actuating said folders', of members movable into position to engage and press the wrapper against the corners only of the package adjacent the face on which the wrapper edges are overlapped, and mechanism for operating said members to press said corners while said folders are operating to overlap the wrapper edges of the wrapper over the sides of the support.

8. The combination with means for folding a wrapper about the girth of a package with the edges of the wrapper disposed in overlapping relationship along one face of the package, said means including a movable folder adapted to engage and fold one of the wrapper edges on to the face on which the wrapper edges are overlapped, and a member mounted on said folder for movement therewith into position to press the wrapper against the corner of the package over which the corresponding wrapper edge is folded by said folder.

9. The combination with a traveling boxshaped support, of means for feeding a wrapper into the path of said support, a clamp for pressing the wrapper against one face of the support, and a folder having sides whose outer edges are adapted to snugly engage the sides of said support for draping the` clamped wrapper over the sides of said support, and a member supporting said folder and movable toward the face of said support to which the wrapper is clamped to cause the outer edges of the folder sides to drape the wrapper over the sides of said support, and stop the folder sides in a position wherein their outer edges are adjacent the corners of the support adjacent the face to which the wrapper is clamped, the height of the sides of said folder being substantially less than the breadth of the sides of said support, and the extent of movement of said folder supporting member during the draping of the wrapper over the sides of the support being less than the breadth of the sides of said support, so that the outer edges of the sides of the folder will lie in a position adjacent the face to which said Wrapper is clamped.

CHARLES ARELT. 

